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kappafrog's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
There I was, reading along with interest about the scientific puzzles facing our heroes, when I got slapped out of the story. The main character opines that people like me shouldn't be allowed in space because our bodies are sexual distractions to our co-workers. What a disgusting display of misogyny. This is why the sci-fi landscape was so hostile to women 50 years ago, and its echoes haven't all died out today. It is a horrible experience to be engrossed in a story only to be reminded with crude language that you are not seen by the author as a fully human participant in the world he has imagined, but as a sex object first and foremost. How sad that Arthur C. Clarke could imagine a future where humans live on Mercury, but not one where men face any repurcussions for sexualizing their colleagues.
The only woman with any authority in the novel has, of course, become a sexual conquest of the commander, neutralizing any threat she might pose to this very male-dominant world.He even gets to have sex with her as a reward for finishing his mission! At the very same time one of his anonymous wives is being impregnated by his frozen sperm. Then there is one woman on the Rama Committee whose only line was followed by a swift correction from a male colleague; the unnamed wives of the men on the ship, who exist offscreen and only to serve the "joke" that the commander has a hard time keeping track of which wife is which while they nag him for neglecting his families; the one bright spot of a trained sailor who gets to sail on the Cylindrical Sea; and a female monkey named Goldie because she is blonde. The rest of the cast is a mostly undifferentiated sea of men. Oh, and the captain venerates the genocidal Captain Cook as his hero because he showed so much humanitarian spirit to the hostile savages he met in his adventures around the world. You can't make this up.
So yeah, this book shows its 50 year age in all its ugliness. I kept reading because I was interested in unraveling the mystery of Rama and seeing this particular vision of first contact unfold. But I can't recommend this book - the scientific intrigue and moments of thoughtfulness it offers up just aren't worth the dehumanization I felt while reading it.
The only woman with any authority in the novel has, of course, become a sexual conquest of the commander, neutralizing any threat she might pose to this very male-dominant world.
So yeah, this book shows its 50 year age in all its ugliness. I kept reading because I was interested in unraveling the mystery of Rama and seeing this particular vision of first contact unfold. But I can't recommend this book - the scientific intrigue and moments of thoughtfulness it offers up just aren't worth the dehumanization I felt while reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, and Suicide
Minor: Genocide, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Ableism, and Colonisation
mermaidsherbet's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Xenophobia, Medical content, Racism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Animal death, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Violence
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